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On 4/15/17 5:08 PM, Chris Slee via Marxism wrote:
Theodor Postol argues that the rebels are responsible for the release
of sarin at Khan Sheikhoun. His key argument is that the damaged
missile found at the site could not have been bent in the particular
way it was if it was dropped from the air. Instead he says it was
damaged by an explosion on the ground.
I am plowing through Postol's shit for an article tomorrow--for the time
being focused on his 2013 defense of Assad.
I just took a quick look at his statement on Khan Sheikhoun and don't
quite see anything about a missile being bent. This is what I did see:
The explosive acted on the pipe as a blunt crushing mallet. It drove the
pipe into the ground while at the same time creating the crater. Since
the pipe was filled with sarin, which is an incompressible fluid, as the
pipe was flattened the sarin acted on the walls and ends of the pipe
causing a crack along the length of the pipe and also the failure of the
cap on the back end. This mechanism of dispersal is essentially the same
as hitting a toothpaste tube with a large mallet, which then results in
the tube failing and the toothpaste being blown in many directions
depending on the exact way the toothpaste skin ruptures.
If this is in fact the mechanism used to disperse the sarin, this
indicates that the sarin tube was placed on the ground by individuals on
the ground and not dropped from an airplane.
---
Think about the implications of "the sarin tube was placed on the ground
by individuals on the ground". Is Postol in his right mind? How would
this not get noticed? Also, what is he trying to say? This is a "false
flag" narrative that does not even conform to the Russian alibi.
The main point I will be making is that Postol never once deals with the
technical and infrastructural questions of making and weaponizing sarin
gas. For an MIT professor to evade such questions, especially when he is
peddling a "false flag" story, is unbelievable. But then again, since he
has relied on Maram Susli for advice on chemistry, anything goes.
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